We “do the right thing for each other”

Oscar Piastri has insisted he and Formula 1 team-mate Lando Norris would do “the right thing for each other” regardless of more prescribed McLaren team orders.

Team orders became a talking point for the Woking-based outfit as Norris did battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the drivers’ title, with McLaren’s form piquing and Red Bull’s dipping at the mid-stage of the season.

The line of questioning picked up pace after Norris allowed Piastri back in front at the Hungarian Grand Prix, having jumped ahead of the Australian during the pitstop phase with McLaren afraid of an undercut from behind.

Team orders were brought further into focus as the Briton was left fighting for positions after a robust, but fair, move from Piastri into the Roggia chicane on the opening lap of the Italian GP to promote further scepticism over McLaren’s handling of the situation.

Team principal Andrea Stella would later explain how he didn’t want to imbalance the morale by deploying team orders too early, but after Piastri helped out Norris in an ultimately futile chase for the title, the latter returned the favour on the final lap of the Qatar sprint to prove relations were sound en route to the team’s first constructors’ title since 1998.

Asked if he felt it was positive that ground rules had been established in a year where Piastri was not in contention for the drivers’ crown, he told Autosport: “I mean, it’s a bit of a catch-22. I think if I was better situated, then there wouldn’t be team orders.

“I think it’s been made a much bigger deal than it has been, you know. There’s not really been any situation so far where we’ve actually needed to use them, so to speak.

“So yes, some things have changed a little bit, and there’s a few more rules or some tweaks to some of the ways we go racing, but again, they’re very, very specific scenarios, I would say. So yeah, it’s been I think a much bigger story for everyone outside the team.

“For us involved, we know to do the right thing when we need to. And yeah, I think next year of course I want to be in a position where I can fight and hopefully, it’s just me and Lando that can fight for the championship, that’s our ideal scenario.

“But even without these sort of more prescribed team orders, we’ve always worked in terms of doing the right thing for each other, and I don’t think that will ever change.”

Piastri has as suitable a mentor in manager Mark Webber, who infamously dealt with heated team-order situations during his time alongside Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.

But on whether he has sought advice from his compatriot, Piastri explained: “Yes and no. I mean, not directly. I think the situation here at McLaren is very different to what Mark experienced in his career.

“I think there have maybe been pointers here and there, and just helping the team in some ways with what he felt didn’t work well in his experience and what he did because I think for a lot of people in the team it’s quite a new scenario as well.

“So I think it’s been helpful for everybody to have kind of his input on what he thought was good or bad at the time.

“But [he is] certainly not leading the team in terms of ‘you need to do this or that’. Or even for me, you know, like ‘don’t stand for this or that’. It’s been just very much his own experience and that’s been more or less it.”